SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
> Dec. 29, 2006
>> Grey Hautaluoma
> Headquarters, Washington
> 202-358-0668
>> James Hartsfield
> Johnson Space Center, Houston
> 281-483-5111
> STATUS REPORT: SS06-053
>> INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-053
>> HOUSTON - The three residents of the International Space Station spent
> a busy week unpacking, inventorying and stowing more than two tons of
> equipment and supplies left by the Space Shuttle Discovery.
>> The week began with Christmas, a day off for the crew except for
> required maintenance and exercise. Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and
> flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Sunita Williams were back on
> their regular schedule Tuesday, waking at midnight CST and going to
> bed at 3:30 p.m.
>> Unpacking items delivered by Discovery took up part of each day during
> the week. Crew members entered the new supplies and equipment in the
> Inventory Management System, a computerized, bar-coded tool to keep
> track of the voluminous material aboard the orbiting laboratory.
>> Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin passed a milestone of their stay on the
> station on Tuesday -- it was their 100th day in space. Williams came
> to the station aboard Discovery earlier this month. She had an hour
> budgeted each day to familiarize herself with the station and adapt
> to life on board. These unstructured hours are scheduled during new
> crew members' first two weeks aboard to get them used to the station
> and its activities.
>> Scientific activities picked up again on the station since the
> departure of the STS-116 crew. During the week, crew members worked
> on experiments analyzing heart function during long-duration
> spaceflight, measuring cosmic rays, and examining plant growth and
> changes in blood of long-duration spacefarers. They also continued a
> Nutritional Status Assessment.
>> Crew members also performed required station maintenance and did their
> daily 2.5 hours of exercise, designed to mitigate some of the
> negative effects of lengthy space flights.
>> The next station status report will be issued Jan. 5, or earlier if
> events warrant. For more information about the crew's activities and
> station sighting opportunities, visit:
>>http://www.nasa.gov/station>>> -end-
>>>>>